Guide for applicants, Part 1: How to get a European patent

1. Accelerated prosecution of European patent applications occurs on written request. The EPO does not publish requests for accelerated search and/or examination (PACE requests) and, by decision of the President dated 12 July 2007,[ 7 ] they are excluded from file inspection, provided they are made using EPO Form 1005[ 8 ] or on a separate sheet of paper.

2. Accelerated prosecution under the PACE programme can be provided only where practically feasible and subject to the workload of search and examining divisions. In certain technical fields there may be constraints due to the numbers of incoming PACE requests. Applicants requesting accelerated prosecution for all or most of their applications will, as a rule, be required by the Office to limit the number of their PACE requests by making a selection.

[ 8 ] EPA/EPO/OEB Form 1005 is available from the EPO website at www.epo.org. It is also obtainable free of charge from the EPO (preferably from Vienna, but also from Munich, The Hague and Berlin) and the central industrial property offices of the contracting states.